EQT Private Equity to sell Facile.it, Italy’s largest online price comparison platform, to Silver Lake

• EQT Private Equity and Oakley to sell Facile.it, Italy’s leading online destination for consumers to compare prices and save money on key areas of household spending, to Silver Lake
   
• Under EQT Private Equity’s tenure, Facile.it has continued to pioneer the Online Price Comparison market in Italy and further established its position as clear leader across multiple verticals, strengthening its brand, technology capabilities, and omnichannel presence
   
• Today, Facile.it reaches a base of over four million unique monthly users via an end-to-end seamless experience across its website, 39 stores, and over three thousand agents, and has grown its EBITDA by more than 20 percent on average over the last four years

EQT is pleased to announce that the EQT VIII fund (“EQT Private Equity”) and Oakley have agreed to sell Facile.it (“Facile” or “the “Company”), Italy’s largest online price comparison platform, to Silver Lake.

Founded in 2008 and headquartered in Milan, Facile.it is Italy’s leading destination for consumers to compare prices for motor insurances, utilities, financial products, and much more, helping users save time and money, and making their everyday life easier. 

During EQT Private Equity’s ownership, Facile.it has continued to pioneer the Online Price Comparison market in Italy, developing innovative products that save its users hundreds of millions of euros every year. Over time, Facile.it has expanded its diversified product offering and unique omnichannel distribution proposition, which underpin its long-term growth trajectory and allow it to benefit from the continued market digitalization and e-commerce penetration.

EQT Private Equity has invested significantly in Facile, future-proofing its technology architecture, expanding its management team, and developing unique omnichannel distribution capabilities, while continuing to reinforce its brand. In 2021, the Company reached EUR 140 million revenues and is today well-positioned for its next phase of growth.

Dominik Stein, Partner within EQT Private Equity’s Advisory Team, said, “Facile.it is a great example of how EQT can help unlock a company’s full potential by combining our local-with-locals approach and deep sector expertise, with our long experience from developing tech companies. EQT is proud of having been a part of Facile’s remarkable growth trajectory and development. We would like to thank the whole management team for the trusted partnership over the past four years. We would also like to thank our co-investor Oakley Capital, the Advisory Committee members and all employees for their daily commitment in making Facile.it the unique company it is today.”

Christian Lucas, Co-Head of Silver Lake EMEA, said, “Facile is an exceptional business with a differentiated and powerful value proposition for customers, channel partners and financial service providers. We are truly impressed by what Tobias and the rest of the team have built over the past years. The company is now Italy’s leading online destination for consumers to compare prices with a market-leading tech platform and unique omnichannel capabilities across its agent networks and stores. Investing in high-growth and pioneering business models with differentiated technology capabilities is at the core of our mission. We look forward to partnering with Tobias and the rest of the management team to significantly invest in the business and drive further growth and value creation over the coming years by contributing our experience from investments in multiple similar businesses across Europe.”

Tobias Stuber, CEO of Facile.it, said “On behalf of the Facile.it management team and all employees, I would like to thank EQT and Oakley for the successful, collaborative, and highly productive partnership over the past four years on our journey towards capitalizing further on our position as a landmark destination for Italy’s household spending. Thanks to their support, we are in an even better position today for the next phase of our growth with our new partner Silver Lake.” 

The transaction is subject to customary conditions and approvals and is expected to close in Q3, 2022. 

Goldman Sachs acted as the exclusive financial advisor, Latham & Watkins as legal advisor to EQT. 

Contact
EQT Press Office, press@eqtpartners.com, +46 8 506 55 334

About EQT
EQT is a purpose-driven global investment organization with EUR 77 billion in assets under management across 36 active funds. EQT funds have portfolio companies in Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Americas with total sales of approximately EUR 29 billion and more than 280,000 employees. EQT works with portfolio companies to achieve sustainable growth, operational excellence and market leadership.

More info: www.eqtgroup.com
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About Oakley Capital
Founded in 2002, Oakley Capital is a pan-European private equity firm backing ambitious growth companies across three core sectors – Technology, Consumer and Education. Oakley is able to deliver differentiated investment opportunities and superior returns by leveraging its entrepreneurial mindset and deep sector expertise. The Oakley team works closely with a unique network of entrepreneurs and successful management teams to help source primary, proprietary opportunities and gain valuable insights into the businesses in which it invests. Its ability to overcome complexity, and a flexible approach to value creation, allows Oakley to support its portfolio companies to achieve sustainable growth.

More info: www.oakleycapital.com

About Facile.it

Facile.it is the leading Italian Online Price Comparison platform, helping over 4 million customers every month to compare prices on key areas of their household spending, providing access to a wide product offering, helping them save time and money. The Company in 2021 generated approximately EUR 140 million in revenue

More info: www.facile.it

About Silver Lake
Silver Lake is a global technology investment firm, with more than $88 billion in combined assets under management and committed capital and a team of professionals based in North America, Europe and Asia. Silver Lake’s portfolio companies collectively generate nearly $254 billion of revenue annually and employ approximately 557,000 people globally.

More info: www.silverlake.com

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